Actor Will Smith is making his action star persona a reality with a death-defying stunt that has this writer asking "Dear God, why?!?"
The former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star, who turned 50 on Tuesday, is celebrating his birthday by hurling himself into the Grand Canyon, and live-streaming it for the whole world to see.
Oh, I should probably mention something else about this stunt. He's not merely jumping off the ledge of the Grand Canyon, and into the abyss. The Men In Black alum is actually hurling himself out of a helicopter suspended above the natural wonder of the world.
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Is this penance for encouraging audiences to sit through After Earth? Nope: It actually seems like Smith finds some source of merriment in bungee jumping into the abyss for the masses to witness.
We know this because Smith has actually done the exact same thing, just recently, in a different iconic location. Last year, the Hitch star went bungee jumping for the very first time, off Africa's famous Victoria Falls, like a man who is not afraid of death.
Smith didn't exactly wake up one morning and wonder what it would be like to fall. He was challenged to knock some items off a bucket list by YouTubers Yes Theory ("seek discomfort" is their motto) who encouraged Smith to make the literal leap back in March.
"We believe in challenging what society considers normal," Yes Theory, which consists of a group of friends from around the globe with a true zest for life, writes on their YouTube channel. "So we seek discomfort to find our own way and fulfill our true calling. And we make videos about it."
Now, Smith's Grand Canyon jump will be a part of YouTube Original special Will Smith: The Jump — which, umm, is very appropriately named.
Smith has been to the Grand Canyon before, on a family trip, but said that he was too afraid to really enjoy it.
"I was scared to walk up to the edge [of the Grand Canyon] and just take in beauty," Smith explains in the live stream of why he's choosing the Grand Canyon to jump into.
Check out Smith's video below. Don't worry, it all goes off without a Hitch (lol. Sorry). But seriously. Here it is...